Macromedia Dreamweaver MX

by Macromedia

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• ASIN: B000066E8H
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 29, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,744 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #6 in Software > Web Development > Web Effects > Objects
  • #17 in Software > Web Development > Web Effects > Animation
  • #23 in Software > Web Development > Web Page Editors > WYSIWYG
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Build Web sites and Internet applications with Macromedia Dreamweaver MX. Work within one environment to easily create and manage any professional Web site, whether it's built using HTML, XHTML, XML, Web services, ColdFusion, ASP.NET, ASP, JSP, or PHP. Dreamweaver MX is a complete solution combining the visual layout tools of Dreamweaver, the Web application features of Dreamweaver UltraDev, and the code editing support of HomeSite.

The new integrated workspace shared with Macromedia Flash MX and Fireworks MX includes tabbed document windows, dockable panel groups, customizable toolbars, and integrated file browsing. Prebuilt layouts and code, including site structures, forms, accessible templates, and JavaScript functions for interactivity, allow you to get started fast. A site setup wizard helps configure site information instantly for managing dynamic sites, staged sites, or sites hosted by ISPs.

Write code faster than ever before using features like code hints, tag editors, extensible color coding, tag choosers, snippets, and code validation. Accelerate development with support for XML, including creating, editing, validating XML code, and importing XML schemas. Easily introspect XML Web services. Ensure standards compliance with default creation of XHTML output, easy conversion from standard HTML to XHTML, and increased support for CSS2.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Macromedia DreamWeaver MX , My New Favorite, October 1, 2002

By 

Robert D. Shull "shullrd" (Fairfield, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Macromedia Dreamweaver MX (CD-ROM)

I have recently been taken by the Internet as a means of communication and self expression. I have tried numerous software products to get my message across, and have liked every one. Macromedia DreamWeaver MX is my new favorite, replacing Microsoft FrontPage 2002.

Like many others, I had heard the horror stories of Macromedia DreamWeaver. I had been told, and even gave as advice, not to use DreamWeaver unless you were a serious web professional. But, FrontPage wasn't quite cutting it for me.

I felt confined using FrontPage, because so much had to be there for my sites to work. I couldn't even properly optimize my site, for fear of FrontPage messing up my design. With DreamWeaver MX, my worries are over.

I was able to jump right into DreamWeaver MX, and create sites that were not only visually attractive, but also containing clean HTML. The best part, I was able to do it faster and easier than I had in FrontPage.

I don't know what prior versions of DreamWeaver were like, but DreamWeaver MX is very easy to use. After using DreamWeaver MX, I will never go back to Adobe GoLive or Microsoft FrontPage again.

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent in it's Niche, October 11, 2002

By 

"timmkeys" (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macromedia Dreamweaver MX (CD-ROM)

Dreamweaver MX is significantly easier to use than previous versions, and is probably the best general-purpose site manager out there. However, for professional, commercial web application development, Microsoft's Visual Studio 7 (featuring .Net) beats Dreamweaver hands down. There are considerations however- VS7 costs 2-5 times as much as Dreamweaver (depending on the version), and requires much more user knowledge and training.

I found the learning curve for Dreamweaver MX to be insignicant. The first time I used it, I was comfortable with it in a couple of hours, and proficient by the end of a week. If you are an entry-level to mid-level web site developer with limited programming knowledge, the HTML editor and site management tools should suit your needs. If you wish to do larger scale web application development, you may also do so using Dreamweaver's built in support for different technologies. If you want to go high-end, definitely consider Visual Studio 7 instead.

Overall, a solid application, and pretty comprehensive package.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Programming in .NET? Look no further..., May 30, 2003

By 

Miguel Sanchez (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macromedia Dreamweaver MX (CD-ROM)

I couldn't stand the previous versions of Dreamweaver, and was a firm believer in Frontpage 2000. Dreamweaver just looked a lot more complicated than Frontpage and didn't seam to have any useful features. That's all changed with DreamweaverMX.

I had to try Dreamweaver after the frustration I had with Frontpage 2000 and its inability to handle .NET aspx files (unless you specified as a text file, but then you might as well use Notepad).

Take the following *essential* features Dreamweaver has over Frontpage:

.Net pages
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Not only does DreamweaverMX handle .aspx pages, it has syntax highlighting for VB.Net and C#, with the ability to customize other languages. In the design view, you can even see .Net components such as a DataGrid, similar to WebMatrix. It's a shame Microsoft's own Frontpage can't even do that...

*Powerful* site management
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Are you constantly going through the hassle of creating your pages, then opening your choice FTP program, search through the directories, and upload? All that is done for you with DreamweaverMX's powerful site management tools. After you have defined your site, anytime you edit your page, click the 'Put' icon, and it's uploaded to your server in the corresponding folder. Better yet, switch to 'Remote View', edit your page, save, and wham! Page is instantly updated online! The amount of time saved by skipping your FTP program starts to add up substantially. Want to prevent two people from editing the same page at the same time? The 'Check in/out' feature will solve that problem for you.

Efficient Layout
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The first time I opened Dreamweaver, it looked too cluttered. But start using it after creating a few sites and you'll wonder how you did without the 'Properties' window.
Hint: Press CTRL+` to quickly switch between code and design view

Flash
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Since Macromedia also created Flash, there is nice integration with Dreamweaver. You can even edit the site in design mode with your flash movie playing. Frontpage probably does that, but not nearly as good as DreamweaverMX.

Clean Code
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No more ugly code and redundant tags left by Frontpage. Dreamweaver even takes out unnecessary tags (ie. having </P> without < P>), leaving clean code. If you looked at the source you'd swear it was HTML coded by hand.

There's a lot more to be said, but these were the features that immediately made me consider the migration from Frontpage to Dreamweaver. If you're a .Net developer, there is no other solution as powerful as this for design and code maintenance. Again, I loved Frontpage, but the fact it does not support its own .Net technology is a shame. I'm not sure if Frontpage 2002 handles .Net aspx files any better, but there is no point paying for the upgrade for a feature it should have had in the first place.

If you're serious about web development, DreamweaverMX should be a serious consideration.